


Vabivis

by 263Adder



Series: The Planets [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, O Joins the TARDIS, alien planets, so much world building, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23670622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/263Adder/pseuds/263Adder
Summary: After hearing about the giant spiders terrorising Sheffield from an excited Doctor's texts, O travels up north to see them first-hand and ends up being invited to travel in the TARDIS. Or, how the Master met Ana Hawkins. A prequel to Daviron.
Relationships: O/Original Female Character(s), The Master (Dhawan)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Planets [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704382
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Vabivis

Ana had first met O when he’d helped the Doctor find out some useful information about Jack Robertson, the American billionaire they had linked to the giant spiders terrorising Sheffield. A long-suffering arachnophobe, Ana hadn’t been thrilled by that escapade and often found herself in the company of O, who – intrigued by the Doctor’s description of the creatures – had travelled up North to look at them first hand.

Despite taking the initiative to join them, he was always careful not to get in the way, hanging behind the fam and observing the Doctor’s performance. Ana stayed beside him once they were introduced, happy to be as far away from the gigantic arachnids as was humanely possible. Standing beside him, she could almost pretend that she was a spectator too; a spectator, she reasoned, was less likely to get eaten by a spider.

She felt safe in his presence. Despite everything that happened around them, people being killed – _eaten_ – by the creatures, he was unfailing inquisitive, never tense or frightened or confused. O never seemed to mind her presence either, always waiting for her to join him with a question on the tip of his tongue about her, the fam, the Doctor, the aliens they’d encountered and the adventures they’d had. He was also kind enough not to laugh in her face whenever the creatures got too close and her phobia would rear its ugly head. She could still see the humour in his eyes though, dancing behind his calm expression, but she conceded she was acting rather ridiculously. Even the relatively small spiders made her shriek and attempt to dive behind him.

When the Doctor had suggested he tag along for their next trip, a reward for his contributions, Ana had been thrilled. As the newest addition to the TARDIS, she had often felt she stuck out among the fam – not having the connections they had forged. Sometimes it felt like she would never fit in and had suggested on more than one occasion that she stay behind so the others could enjoy a trip without her. The Doctor had urged her to stay however, and so she had. With O there she wasn’t the only oddball anymore: existing outside the close-knit bond the fam had. That was what she’d thought at first anyway, but they quickly discovered the strange synergy that existed between the Doctor and O. He seemed to understand her more than anyone else in the TARDIS, even the fam. But then again, O had been in touch with her for longer than any of them. That’s how he explained it away when Ana had asked about their past.

“What about you?” O queried, looking at her curiously from across the kitchen table. “How did you first meet the Doctor?”

“It was an accident,” Ana said. “I’d gone to Sheffield for work…”

“What do you do?” O interrupted, immediately apologising for doing so.

“No, it’s okay. I work in private security. A family who lived there were interviewing for a new head of security so I went along…”

“Did you get it?” O asked. “Oh, I did it again. Sorry.”

She smiled at him indulgently. “It’s fine, really. And, to answer your question, I didn’t actually make it there.”

“The Doctor?” He predicted eagerly.

“The Doctor,” Ana confirmed. “Grace had just died – Graham’s wife.” She hastily clarified before O could interrupt again. “And they were all staying in Sheffield while they organised the funeral. The Doctor was knocking around the place, going on the odd trip in the TARDIS, mostly on her own but sometimes Yaz went with her.”

“So, aliens?” O guessed.

“No.”

His face fell and Ana grinned at him again. “Robertson wasn’t an alien. Neither were the spiders.”

“True.”

“The Doctor was looking for materials to make a new sonic screwdriver. Yaz knew there was this scrapyard near to where the Doctor had parked the TARDIS, and they both went to see if they could find anything useful. A lot of cars went to the scrapyard, and they loaded them into these gigantic metal frames. A grapple truck was being driven through the lot when the arm suddenly swung out and hit the frame. All the stuff on the lower tiers was tightly strapped in and didn’t budge, but it knocked everything on the top row off. And standing right underneath it all was Yaz and the Doctor. I was walking near the entrance, which luckily is close to where they were, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to get them out of the way in time…”

“So you saved their lives?” O said, impressed.

“They probably would have been fine even if I hadn’t shown up.” Ana protested. “It made a lot of noise, they knew to run.”

“We _absolutely_ would have died.” The Doctor chimed in, walking past with a box of tools to work on the TARDIS console. “I had my head inside a car bonnet at the time.”

“She’s exaggerating.”

“No, I think we would have died too,” Yaz said in passing, following the Doctor to the console room. Poking her head around the door to the kitchen, she added: “Ana definitely saved our lives.”

“As soon as I saw they weren’t hurt, I went after the guy driving the truck and stopped him. Yaz identified him as a criminal she’d encountered before – you know she’s a police officer right – then she made an official arrest and took him into the nearest station where he was charged with attempted murder.”

“Nasty piece of work he is,” Yaz said. “I was part of a raid which broke up a dogfighting ring he’d set up and I was the one who caught him when he tried to run out the back. Hated me ever since. Was happy to watch Ana kick his ass.”

Ana sighed. She reserved her next comment until she was sure both women were out of earshot. “Anyway. They felt like they owed me for ‘saving’ them, so the Doctor took me on a trip to Drion-5 while Graham and Ryan had the funeral. She introduced me to everyone when we got back. I thought that would be it, but Graham convinced me to tag along on their next trip and I’ve been with them ever since.”

O sat silently, turning her story over in his head before pressing on with his seemingly never-ending list of questions. “So how did you get into private security?”

Habitually rolling her eyes, she explained that the Hawkins’ all had lengthy careers in law enforcement.

“Police?”

“Everything really. Army, navy, police force, even had the odd spy, or so I’m told.” She added, eyeing O.

He held up his hands. “I’m just an analyst.”

“Hmm. That’s what they all say.”

“Where did you train?”

“Lots of places. My Dad taught me a lot, enrolled me in defence classes when I was a kid. Then I did some training with the Army, but I didn’t like it there. Dad had gone into private security after he retired from the NCA and it seemed like something I would enjoy more. Fewer rules, more freedom.”

“Did you ever try the secret services?”

“Are you asking if I’ve ever been an analyst?” Ana chuckled. “No. Didn’t seem like it would be for me.”

“It’s not like James Bond you know.” O pointed out, almost looking disappointed.

“I know. I’d be more interested if it were.” She laughed.

“You like danger then?”

Her nose wrinkled. “I don’t think any of us would be here if we didn’t.”

“And yet a spider sends you running for cover?”

“They move so fast!” Ana defended herself while O took his turn to snicker. “I don’t know why you’re laughing, you’re here too.”

“I have to be. Who else would you use as a human shield the next time we encounter an arachnid?” He teased.

While they were all somewhat envious of O’s close relationship with the Doctor – Ana having listened to many conversations between the fam discussing it, discussing him and wondering what on earth O’s real name was – she no longer felt quite so alone in that infinitely large TARDIS. She might still be the outsider when it came to the Doctor and the fam, but she’d found a close friend in O. Someone who always volunteered to partner with her when the fam split up to look for clues. A willing ear whenever she wanted to talk about any of the crazy and amazing things they’d seen on their travels. He was the person who gripped her hand as they ran from the danger they both secretly thrilled for. O was the only person who really seemed to understand what she was thinking.

Within a few trips of O joining the TARDIS, Ana became eager to join the latest trip; no longer feeling like a burden who stuck out in the group. She had someone now who seemed to want her there; not out of obligation, because they thought they owed her. But someone who enjoyed her company. O texted her when they were out of the TARDIS and, having returned to London after failing to secure the job in Sheffield, Ana would sometimes meet him during the periods they went home to live their normal lives. He became her closest friend, which became apparent when they returned from Pendle Hill.

It had been a stressful adventure. Between the women facing accusations of witchcraft – that had been bandied about with casual threats of murder – to Ryan and O dealing with racist comments from the locals, they were all ready for some downtime. Graham had suggested a trip home to relax but, instead, the Doctor had jumped to offer some fun.

“Fun?” Graham asked a little dubiously. “No offence Doc, but you’ve tried taking us out for fun trips before. We nearly always end up running for our lives.”

“What did you have in mind?” Ryan chipped in, curious of what the Doctor considered fun.

“You each choose somewhere you want to go. We’ll take it in turns.” She said happily. “Any time, any place, any planet. Whatever you want.”

“Oh, can we go to the moon?” Graham immediately requested. “I’ve always wanted to go to the moon.”

“Yeah!” The Doctor agreed, twirling towards the TARDIS console. “When would you like to go? Present time, when it’s a somewhat large planetary satellite with a couple of flags stuck in it? In the past when no human has set foot on it yet? Or in the future when it’s been terraformed and has its own theme park?”

“A theme park?” Graham repeated dumbly, somewhat horrified at his childhood fascination having been converted into an amusement park.

“Theme park it is!” The Doctor cheered, misperceiving his question as a decision. She grabbed hold of the console and started inputting their destination. Ana quickly grabbed hold of a rail and O wisely mirrored her move. Trips in the TARDIS were never smooth.

Leading them outside, the Doctor started explaining about the amusement park – O listened to her intently. It took her a minute to realise she had no one else’s attention however. The rest of them were fixated on their planet, slowly spinning before them on the horizon.

“Is it weird that this is freaking me out more than the guy who had teeth stuck in his face?” Ryan asked.

“What’s wrong fam?” The Doctor asked, walking over to them.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” O said in Ana’s ear, whose gaze dropped away from Earth to focus on the grey dust beneath her feet.

“That’s our planet,” Ryan said, pointing at it.

“Yeah,” The Doctor said, a little dumbfounded.

“I’m looking at our planet,” Ryan continued

“You’ve been off-world before, guys.”

“I know, Doc. But it’s one thing being off your planet and another _seeing_ your planet, _while_ you’re stood on the Moon, which you’ve only ever seen in the sky and never thought you’d live to visit.” Graham explained.

“This is so freaky.” Ryan agreed.

“Amazing though,” Yaz added, noticing the Doctor’s crestfallen expression.

“Oh, right. Totally amazing.” Ryan said, trying to match Yaz’s enthusiasm.

“Ana?”

“Awesome.” She replied hollowly, dragging her eyes from the dust to the Doctor to give a half-hearted smile.

“So you all want to go to the theme park?” The Doctor grinned.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Yaz enthused.

“Great!” The Doctor exclaimed. Leading the way, the fam quickly followed after her. Ana and O stayed where they were.

He lightly took her hand to draw her attention to him. When that didn’t work, he squeezed it hard.

She startled but, instead of pulling free, she clenched his hand back. “Huh?”

“You okay?”

“Oh, sure. Just taking in the view.”

“By looking at the ground?” He laughed.

“We’re on the moon.” Ana said, giving him an incredulous smile. She dug the toe of her shoe into the ground and watched the dust move. The grey dust she had only ever seen in the grainy footage of the moon landings. “ _The_ _moon_. Do you not find that weird?”

“You realise we were all just nearly burnt as witches in 1612, right?”

“You really don’t find this bizarre? I thought everyone had a thing about the moon?”

“What thing?” O asked curiously.

Ana checked on the fam, not wanting to lose them.

“It’s fine. We’ll catch up.” O encouraged, noticing her distraction. “What about the moon?”

“You can get so caught up in life, the things happening all around you. But the moon. You look up and see it in the sky and it puts everything into perspective.”

“What perspective?” He pushed, moving closer to her side.

“That we’re just one planet, spinning around one sun, in one solar system, in one galaxy. In the incomprehensible size of the universe, it’s _nothing_. You can forget that when you’re walking around thinking about yourself, but when everything’s quiet, you look up, you see the moon and you remember. And now I’m _standing_ on it. Because I got brought here by an alien who can travel through time and space.” Ana giggled. O matched her. “And now we’re going to ride on a roller coaster. On the moon. This is so weird.”

“Come on.” He said, tugging her towards the entrance. “Let’s see who vomits first.”

“Graham,” Ana predicted. “You know he’ll eat before he goes on any of the rides.”

“True.” O sighed. Graham never failed to remind them all of his stomach’s needs. “Have you decided where you want to go when it’s your turn?”

“Well I enjoy visiting new planets, but since I don’t know any of them until the Doctor takes me there, how can I ask?”

“She can suggest one.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

The Doctor had procured them all passes and their wristbands were waiting for them at the entrance hut. Putting them on, they looked for the fam.

“Over there.”

As predicted Graham was getting something which looked like orange candy floss, that Ryan was cautiously pulling a piece from.

“It tastes like pineapple,” Graham told them when they arrived.

“It tastes like pizza to me,” Ryan argued.

Ana plucked off a piece. “More like strawberries.”

Graham offered O a piece, but he declined, asking: “Where’s Yaz and the Doctor?”

“They went on the first ride they saw,” Ryan said, pointing at a ride that was spinning, free of any support, mid-air at an alarming speed.

“Huh, maybe Yaz will barf first,” Ana muttered to herself.

They waited by the food stand until they all regrouped, then they moved to queue for the main rollercoaster which looked terrifying. Ana couldn’t wait. Graham looked green.

Yaz bumped Ana’s arm to get her attention and beckoned her towards the back of the group where they were less likely to be overheard. “What’s going on with you and O?” She teased.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been holding hands most of the time we’ve been here.” Yaz pointed out.

“I was having a bit of an out-of-body experience when we landed,” Ana shrugged, “he was just making sure I didn’t wander off and get lost.”

“Mmm, if you say so,” Yaz said with a cheeky smile.

“What?”

“I think someone has a crush.” Was all she said in response, as they were the next group to be ushered onto the ride.

* * *

They all asked the Doctor to let them rest before their next journey, which she agreed to as Graham was still looking peaky around the gills.

The TARDIS had given O a room next to Ana’s and, once again, she marvelled that while the rest of them immediately fell on their beds in an exhausted heap, O was settling down to work. She could hear him through the wall, gathering papers and typing on his computer. There were times she wondered if he ever slept. He seemed to be awake whenever she was.

She found the distant sound of him pottering about his room relaxing and dropped asleep in minutes.

When they all regrouped the next morning the Doctor tried to ask O where he wanted to go, but he immediately deferred to Ana.

“Oh, no, that’s okay.” She said. “You go first.”

“Please.” He insisted. “You said you wanted to go to a new planet, right?”

“I do.” Ana intoned, still dubious about going before O when the Doctor had clearly wanted him to choose. It also didn’t help that O’s offer had left Yaz wearing a wide smirk. “Can you suggest somewhere?”

“Sure. I have somewhere I’m sure you’ll love.” The Doctor said, her enthusiasm unfailing. “Emara.”

O frowned, but Ana didn’t notice.

“It has five suns in its solar system so the entire planet is permanently bathed in sun. Ninety per cent of the planet is water, which is always warm,” she described, programming in their destination at the console, “and in the centre is a luscious island, bordered with pink beaches. It has a huge rainforest in the mainland. Home to the Eocrar, a tree which has blossoms shaped like hearts. There’s a rumour that one day a year they secrete powerful aphrodisiacs capable of making people fall in love with each other for the rest of their lives, but there’s no scientific evidence to back that up. How’s that sound?”

“Great. As long as we stick to the beaches.” Ana amended under her breath, glancing at Yaz whose expression had grown increasingly mischievous.

“I’d better go find some swimming trunks,” Graham said, clapping his hands together. “Wonder if the wardrobe has a snorkel.”

Ryan groaned at the thought of his granddad embarrassing him. “I’m not walking around with you if you’re wearing a snorkel and goggles.”

“Maybe there’s a spade and bucket too. We can build a sandcastle.” Graham continued cheerfully.

They all retreated to the wardrobe as none of them had thought to bring beachwear when they’d packed for their latest expedition in the TARDIS. The girls separated from the boys, heading up the spiral staircase to see what they could find.

“There are some sunglasses here,” Ana said, selecting a rose coloured frame and sliding them on. “What do you think?”

She turned to find Yaz dangling a red bikini from the end of her finger. “Would go well with this? I bet O’s eyes would fall out his head if you wore it to the beach.”

“That’s not the only thing I’d be worried about falling out.” Ana dismissed wryly. “Is there much more to choose from?”

“Yeah, a whole draw full,” Yaz said, picking out a floral patterned tankini for herself. “It’ll be nice lounging on a beach. More relaxing than that theme park. Good choice.”

“Thanks.” She accepted although it hadn’t really been her choice. Still, she was glad it would give everyone else a chance to relax – they’d probably need it before things went back to normal and the Doctor put them all into a life-or-death situation again. Sadly, that sounded more interesting to Ana than lounging on a beach, but she was sure if she said that aloud they’d all think she was psychotic.

A purple one-piece went under her shorts and t-shirt and she managed to find some flip flops to go with the beachy look.

Graham was the last to emerge, his arms loaded with beach necessities, including a large beach ball, a folded windbreak and a parasol. “Wasn’t able to find any sunscreen though.”

“I’ve got some in my room, hang on,” Yaz said, jogging off. “Meet you outside.” She yelled back at them as she went.

Ana offered to take some things from Graham and O hurried to do the same, wanting to appear to be helpful.

“I’m going to go to the rainforest if anyone else is interested in a hike?” The Doctor offered as they entered the console room.

“No thanks, Doc. I think I’ll find a quiet stretch on the beach and relax for a while. Maybe get a drink – do you think they have cocktail umbrellas here?”

“I’ll go with him,” Ryan said. “Go do some swimming.”

“Okay.” The Doctor said, trying not to look disappointed at their choice to split up the group. “O? Ana? You guys up for a hike?”

“Sure,” Ana said, her enthusiasm souring as soon as she agreed; suddenly remembering the love trees. “Erm, I’ll just go change my shoes.”

“Love to.” O grinned.

“You didn’t have to wait for me,” Yaz said when Ana crossed paths with her in the TARDIS corridor.

“Need to go change my shoes. The Doctor’s taking me and O into the rainforest. You’ll come too right?”

“Yeah, all right.” Yaz agreed easily, like Ana, preferring to explore. “See you in a second.”

Once they’d regrouped outside the TARDIS, the Doctor pointed Graham and Ryan towards a pleasant stretch of beach and said they’d meet them there in a few hours.

“As for us, there’s a trail just over here. Leads through part of the rainforest and up to a cliff which overlooks the Odrine ocean.”

O walked beside the Doctor, asking questions about the planet’s atmosphere, inhabitants and other life forms. His questions came so quickly it was almost like he was quizzing her. Eventually, he ran out and turned his attention to Yaz. They hadn’t talked as often as he had with Ana, so he asked about her police career. Including the incident where she met Ana.

“It was great.” Yaz praised. “I told her afterwards she should become a police officer. She had him on the ground with an arm behind his back before anyone could bat an eyeline.”

“I have too many relatives in the police force, it’d be weird.” Ana objected, reluctantly pulled into the conversation. She had been enjoying looking at the surrounding nature. The pink-tipped blossoms glowed in the soft sunlight that dappled through the forest, every one of them a classic heart shape. She was tempted to pluck one from the branches to keep as a souvenir, but it would only die if she did.

“Hmm, maybe you should join MI6 then? She’d be an excellent fit, right O?”

“Undoubtedly.” He immediately agreed.

“I already have a job,” Ana said, moving past Yaz and O to talk with the Doctor. “Hey, Doc?”

“Yes, Ana.” She replied brightly.

“What you said before about the trees…”

“Don’t worry Ana, it’s completely unsubstantiated. Besides, I’d never take you lot anywhere where you could get drugged. Who knows how alien aphrodisiacs would respond to human physiology. I can understand why the myths persist, though. It is a romantic place, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, it’s beautiful.” Ana agreed. “Thanks for bringing me here.”

“Good. I want you to enjoy yourself!” The Doctor grinned. “I’m happy to take you wherever you want to go.”

The view from the cliff was as stunning as promised. The blue ocean had a lustre to it which Ana fixated on. Yaz excitedly watched the marine life floating among the waves, asking the Doctor all about them and if they could get any closer when they went to the beach, while O returned to Ana’s side.

“Pretty?” He asked.

“Beautiful.” She replied.

“Bored?”

Ana glanced at him incredulously, not sure she heard him correctly. “What?”

“Are you bored?”

“N-no.”

The Master chuckled. “I’m not a beach person either.”

“I like the beach.” Ana protested.

“But in the scheme of any place in the entire universe you could go, a beach has got to be pretty boring right?”

She made a choking sound which vaguely came across as a protest, but O was already walking off. He turned after a few steps and beckoned her to follow.

Ana made a point of having as much fun as possible when they returned to the beach. Playing volleyball with the ridiculously oversized beach ball, eating an alien version of ice cream – which was watery and not nearly as nice as actual ice cream – swimming in the pearlescent ocean, playing with the life that dwelled there and sunning herself on the pink sand.

The Master watched her the whole time, not believing the act. He’d seen genuine excitement cross her face during the many times they had fled for their life. Ana liked a thrill, she just wasn’t ready to admit it yet.

Yaz watched O, thinking she was watching a real-time romance unfurl before her eyes. Graham and Ryan were oblivious, and the Doctor wasn’t much more use – still being somewhat socially awkward.

* * *

Yaz waited until the Doctor was distracted with the TARDIS to ask the others if she could make her request last. She wanted to ask about the Doctor’s home world again, hoping they could visit. The Doctor didn’t seem to enjoy spending half the day at the beach though, and Yaz wanted to wait until she was in a better mood to ask. So O stepped up to go next and made his request, choosing a planet no one had heard of before. Even the Doctor seemed surprised to hear him say its name.

“Vabivis. Where did you learn about that?” She asked curiously.

“You told me about it.” O replied. “It sounded interesting. But if you’d rather we go somewhere else…”

“No, no, no. A promise is a promise.” She assured, though she lacked her usual eagerness as she made her way over to the TARDIS console.

O made his way over to Ana for the first time since they’d spoken on the cliff and joined her in grabbing hold of a railing for the flight.

“Vabivis was home to a species called the Vabivi who frequently warred with one another.” He told her conversationally. “They built elaborate kingdoms designed to best repel enemy attacks. Lots of secret passageways, booby-trapped rooms, that sort of thing. They were all eventually wiped out when they finally developed weapons of mass destruction. Killed all the Vabivi and most of their animals too. The kingdoms were so incredibly well built however that the buildings withstood everything. The planet’s turned into a memorial of sorts now. Safe to visit, although the odd visitor has died before when they accidentally triggered a booby-trap. People have been studying the place for centuries and they still haven’t mapped them all. Sometimes races try to take it over, use it as a fortress of their own. So far no one has been successful.”

“Sounds grim,” Graham observed, clutching onto a column as the TARDIS rocked sharply.

“I like military history.” O smiled back. “I am an analyst after all.”

“Spy.” Ana badly disguised in a cough, prompting the fam to laugh.

“Analyst.” O corrected habitually.

“It sounds interesting though,” Ana said. “Which kingdom do you want to see?”

“Vrots. The victorious kingdom.”

“Didn’t you just say they were all dead?”

“Yes. They still technically won.”

“Wiping out your entire species doesn’t exactly sound like a win,” Yaz commented.

“We’re here.” The Doctor said, her lips pursed into a thin line. “Not too long, okay? Ryan and Yaz are still due a turn.”

“Just a quick tour,” O promised, pulling Ana’s hand from the rails and yanking her towards the door.

“There’s this balcony,” he told her as they hastened from the TARDIS, “from which you’re meant to see two of the other kingdoms on a clear day. Looks like we’re lucky.”

As he guided her, Ana glanced around at the colossal kingdom, every building made from incredibly thick stone walls, each one a smooth, polished black. If they were on Earth, she would guess they were made of granite, gleaming under the sun that burned in the clear sky. The Vrots had designed the streets – made of a slightly rougher but equally dark mineral – to be difficult to navigate, twisting around, often leading to dead-ends, coming out at unexpected parts of the kingdom, tapering into tiny mouths which then emerged onto large plazas. The black stone which made up every building in the kingdom made the experience even more disorientating. O seemed to know exactly where he was going though.

“You seem to know this place very well,” Ana said. “Has the Doctor brought you here before?”

“Promise you won’t tell the others?” O asked, still guiding her through the kingdom like he’d been there a thousand times before.

“No?”

“Not very convincing, Ana.”

“No.” She drawled.

“The Doctor gave me a book from one of the gift shops here.” O laughed. “Don’t feel too jealous about it.”

“What?”

“Couple of years ago, thought I’d find it interesting. I think he also wanted to give me some perspective about the destructiveness species are capable of. I think they worry about me sometimes, working for secret services and all.” O said, a little less amused.

“Did you just say he?” Ana asked, distracted from the point as O had intended.

He explained as they walked, answering any questions Ana had about the planet too.

“Wow, how many times have you read this book?”

“I have an excellent memory.” O boasted, finally bringing them up to the main castle of the Vrots’ kingdom.

“Are we allowed in here?”

As O had said, there had been tourists on the planet – looking inside the empty homes, abandoned shops and overgrown parks. Amazingly, none of the buildings looked derelict, they were exceptionally well built. Nature had taken over however, that was clear. Vines grew along the streets, making them even more treacherous to navigate. Long grasses bloomed everywhere, weeds shooting up in the drains. It was stunning. It was haunting.

Around the castle, the streets were deserted. Vines were growing over the main doorway which snapped under the unexpected movement of their resting place and spiralled to the floor in clumps, throwing up dust in the air and making her cough. When O finally pushed his way inside, everything looked undisturbed.

“Of course we are. Come on.” O encouraged, guiding her up the main staircase, across to a smaller staircase, then to a spiral staircase that went up one of the towers. They finally emerged on a jet black balcony. Ana was grateful of the vines this time, without them she was sure she’d slip on the smooth surface of the rock.

“Will you look at that.” O breathed, dropping her hand to walk over to the balcony’s edge. Planting his hands on the low stone wall, he pushed himself forward and breathed in the destruction which could be seen for miles. Slowly, Ana followed him.

There had been a large forest between the three kingdoms, each made up of the impenetrable, dark stone. The other two were slightly smaller but no less daunting in her eyes. While the buildings stood tall, the forest had been decimated, stubs of trees were all that remained, having crystallised under the heatwave of whatever bomb had been used to wipe out life in that area.

“Those two kingdoms,” O pointed them out, “were the Vrots’ biggest competitors. While the Vrots’ had the advantage over their species once they developed their latest weapon, the other kingdoms were confident in their safety – knowing their proximity was their advantage. The Vrots’ couldn’t drop the bomb on them without obliterating themselves. They underestimated their determination for victory.”

“This place is amazing,” Ana said to O, envious of his destination compared to her beach holiday. She felt like a classic adventurer, delving into long-buried places, forgotten by the universe. Despite what O said, she was certain other people hadn’t come in the castle before, and the thought of being the first in thousands of years thrilled her. “I mean _creepy_ but _amazing_. You made a wonderful choice coming here.”

“I can’t say I ever thought about coming here in person, it didn’t seem like somewhere the Doctor would take us.” O said. “But when she offered to take us anywhere, and we started talking about the places we’d all want to go, well I thought it sounded like somewhere you’d _actually_ enjoy. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you seemed bored on Emara.”

“I wasn’t bored… wait a minute.” She looked at him so quickly she nearly gave herself whiplash. “O. This is meant to be about where you want to go! Who knows how many chances we’ll have to choose somewhere?”

He shrugged casually. “You know me. If it’s alien, I enjoy it.”

Looking at him disbelievingly, she continued to protest. “Still, it doesn’t seem fair. We all only got one choice.”

“Plenty of more places we’ll be going, Ana.” The Master said, his decision already made. “This is only the beginning, isn’t it?”

After a moment she nodded, giving him a soft smile as they both stood over the destroyed remains of Vabivis, observing the planet’s struggles to repair the damage its inhabitants had wrought. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> The last story Daviron may be my least popular work so far, but I enjoy writing this too much to stop 😂 if only I could bring myself to write in the second person, Master/Reader is so much more popular!


End file.
